How to Role-play Leveling Up

[Catullus64]

My group recently started running the Tales from the Yawning Portal modules in succession, and we're two sessions into the Sunless Citadel, and still at 1st level. I'm fond of my character, a smooth-talking, slightly self-important, but nonetheless well-meaning attorney, represented by a Rogue with the UA Diplomat Feat. Our DM has said that the adventure should take us up to 3rd level, and I intend to go Swashbuckler. Here's the problem that occurs to me: the adventure seems like it takes place over a matter of days, judging by the sections of the dungeon we've already cleared. How do I justify the transformation of my wordy, affable lawyer into a dashing master sword-fighter over the course of less than a week?

While advice for this character in particular is appreciated, I'm more interested in abstracting general principles for how to role-play a character's organic growth from a regular person with a few exceptional skills into a powerful and capable warrior. I'm especially interested in how to role-play the acquisition of new features (including spells), how to justify dramatic increases in HP, and how to modify a character's personality as they level. Whether you approach this as narrative theory, an acting exercise, or as an analysis of mechanical game systems, I welcome your thoughts.

[Aett_Thorn]

Unfortunately, there are a lot of things that you need to consider as abstractions in order for leveling up to truly make sense. For instance, hit points: at level 1, you may not know how to effectively dodge a sword-wielding foe. So if it deals 1d8 damage to you, you might be taking that to the chest at level 1. Meanwhile, at level 5, taking 1d8 damage might be more of a strike to the arm of leg, and at level 10, it's more of a glancing blow. HP can also be considered the "will to fight", and as you level up, you've got more experience with "pushing through" hard times.

As for learning new skills and abilities, you should be roleplaying your character as you see fit, but if you know that he is going to be a swashbuckler, you should be fitting that into the character and how he is described. BUT, given that you say that your character is more of a smooth-talker, more than a nimble fighter, then maybe you portray the 3rd-level ability as a way of hitting an opponent, and then saying something clever that causes them to be distracted enough for you to get away ("Sorry that I just stabbed you, but look OVER THERE!"). This way, you're seeing your abilities as extensions of the character, and not just new abilities that don't fit in.

[Sigreid]

Simple, there is no better motivator to improve your skills than a large number of creatures that want to take your head off. Motivated learner right there.

[Trum4n1208]

I just treat leveling-up as your character mastering skills that they had been taught in their training but hadn't quite gotten a grip on. Little things that they'd be practicing off-screen, so to speak. Your character understands conceptually how to do something, but haven't gotten the hang of it, or maybe haven't developed a technique that worked for them, or something like that.

[Joe the Rat]

Everything I need to know about medieval education I learned from Ars Magica:

As an attorney, you are clearly a man of letters. You've had a proper (affordable to the scions of nobles and wealthy merchants) education.

This means some sort of College. As a scion of money at a college who is not intending to go into the clergy, you will be hanging out with your peers.

Your peers (scions of wealth) are by fashion suave and rakish. Or at least attempt to be such.

A proper rake knows how to insult, and defend his honor with a light blade.

Ergo, as an attorney, you are a rakish fencer. You may opt for a fancy doublet over excessive scarves and sashes, but you are very much in the mold.


Your new abilities are simply honing your education with real world experience. Like an internship.

[Randomthom]

I think there's a few misconceptions in here that are putting up walls.

First, if you're essentially considering a level 1 rogue an "exceptional commoner" to paraphrase your description, I'd hardly call a level 3 Rogue a "master swordsman". You're only slightly more competent than you were before.

If it helps the transition, don't just start using all your new abilities as often as you can as soon as you gain them. Bring them in slowly, allowing your character to be surprised by their own new abilities as they discover them.

Consider Luke Skywalker in episode IV deflecting the sparks from the training droid but not actually using the learned ability until episode VI on Jabba's sail barge. Sure, theoretically he could do it but he didn't trust himself to use the new skill until he had honed it.

Mundane skills are easier to transition to than mystical/magical where what you can/can't do is very binary. Maybe, in those cases, describe your character experimenting with their fledgling ability.

[Unoriginal]

As Randomthom said, at level 3 you are not a master swordsman, you are more in the "can win a 1 vs 1 fight against a town guard" range.

During this week of adventure, you have faced a lot of challenge and fights to the death, and so you've gotten better at fighting. You are still an affable lawyer, you are just a battle-tested one who can hold his own in a fight.

Also, pseudo-medieval university students getting into fights and troubles, as well as learning how to fight, isn't something that's uncommon. You just got into bigger troubles than a bar brawl.

You could also say that the legal system recognize judiciary duels as a valid trial, and so lawyers may have to defend their clients as their champions.

[Aett_Thorn]

You could also say that the legal system recognize judiciary duels as a valid trial, and so lawyers may have to defend their clients as their champions.

"If he wins, I'm not guilty! If he loses, at least I don't have to pay him. It's win-win!"

[Thrudd]

This is a failing of the game, not your imagination. It should be impossible to gain three levels in three days, because, as you have noticed, that does not makes sense from a fiction standpoint (without some silly mental gymnastics).

The gaining of each level should be accompanied by a few weeks of downtime, during which your character is training to explain the acquisition of new talents and spells. The way the game ought to work is that levels are not awarded mid-adventure. When enough XP to gain a level has been reached, a minimum amount of training time in a suitable environment must be spent in order to actually gain the level. So you can go through the adventure at level 1, gaining enough XP to reach level 3. When you return to town, you can spend two training periods to gain those levels and all the new abilities. Or you can leave the dungeon when you have enough XP for level 2, go back to town and train to get your level, then return to the dungeon.

[Solunaris]

This is a failing of the game, not your imagination. It should be impossible to gain three levels in three days, because, as you have noticed, that does not makes sense from a fiction standpoint (without some silly mental gymnastics).

The gaining of each level should be accompanied by a few weeks of downtime, during which your character is training to explain the acquisition of new talents and spells. The way the game ought to work is that levels are not awarded mid-adventure. When enough XP to gain a level has been reached, a minimum amount of training time in a suitable environment must be spent in order to actually gain the level. So you can go through the adventure at level 1, gaining enough XP to reach level 3. When you return to town, you can spend two training periods to gain those levels and all the new abilities. Or you can leave the dungeon when you have enough XP for level 2, go back to town and train to get your level, then return to the dungeon.

I'd argue the opposite, in that the game seems to be explicitly designed to allow characters to go from level 1 to level 3 in near to a single outing. For instance, the path from level 1 to level 2 should be done in a single adventuring day. A level 1 character has never been in a proper fight before, and they only understand their combat abilities in a controlled environment like a training hall or a magus college. The experience they gain from their first real day of combat is like an awakening for them, which is why most classes don't really gain anything special until level 2.

And going to level 3 (where a character specializes and gains their unique combat style) is a 1 or 2 day affair. After getting their feat wet, a character takes a night or two to think about how things went and they either have a sudden realization about techniques they were taught in training or something just clicks and they gain access to more complicated maneuvers and spells.

But then the path from 3 to 4 is long, and each level afterwards is also long as the character is no longer coming into their own power and style but now improving that style and power in their own way. I still wouldn't require training at this point either since your character should be assumed to be training and working on new techniques in the down time or during rests. Leveling up at the point is just the fruits of the training coming to bear or something clicking after a particularly nasty event.

"Wait, the way that bugbear deflected my blade at the last second! That's the movement I've been missing!" *Battlemaster learned the Parry Maneuver

"Would you look at the weird pattern the blo- By the Gods! Of course, it's so simple how could I not have seen it! Instead of shaping the mana in a geometric form if I make it an abstract..." Wizard learned the Hypnotic Pattern Spell

Edit: To clarify a bit, I choose to believe that character is never not training and that exp represents how well they are putting that training into use. It is a limitation of the system that levels are sudden jumps in power (which does actually make sense for spell casters, less for martials) but I always make sure to try and work in a few failed uses of my class's next level features. For instance, if I get hit as the Battlemaster from before I might describe myself trying to turn the attack but failing and cursing about it. Or as a Wizard mumbling about arcane patterns to form mana--paths for a spell to form into. Most of this is done in my mind and not vocalized to the other players, but every now and again when the DM class for a description of something I'll try to work this philosophy into the way I describe my characters. They are constantly trying to improve, so it make sense that they can level up mid adventure.

[Mortis_Elrod]

Your character is washed with golden radiance and light, and you hear someone yell 'DING' seemingly in your head. Suddenly your body and mind grow and you attain new abilities.

[Foxhound438]

*reads title*
*flashbacks of The Last Remnant*

just yell "I FEEL STRONGER THAN BEFORE!" seems totally great and not at all jarring or immersion breaking

So for a serious answer, my group generally doesn't? the only times when it comes up in RP is when someone picks up a spell or feature that can progress the group through some side quest or "check", like a flying city that can't be reached before having someone able to cast fly or something. In those instances, it's rarely more than "I have learned this new thing, let's go do that other thing now."

[Waterdeep Merch]

In general, I rarely see anyone bother trying. Leveling up is a necessary evil, a codified method of progression that is fun from a gameplay standpoint but makes zero sense from a literal one. Pretend you're always improving and practicing, and sometimes you make important breakthroughs. Otherwise ignore it; trying to marry gameplay functions like this to simulationism is madness.

[Thrudd]

In general, I rarely see anyone bother trying. Leveling up is a necessary evil, a codified method of progression that is fun from a gameplay standpoint but makes zero sense from a literal one. Pretend you're always improving and practicing, and sometimes you make important breakthroughs. Otherwise ignore it; trying to marry gameplay functions like this to simulationism is madness.

It isn't madness. It was at one time common sense - you don't level up mid-adventure, you only gain levels in down time in between adventures/expeditions. It's that simple - gameplay and verisimilitude are simultaneously preserved. The madness was when people started ignoring this very sensible concept.

In 5e, you could perhaps argue that some levels represent bigger changes than others, and adjust the time period of downtime accordingly - but even 1 to 2 has some significant changes for some classes.

[Waterdeep Merch]

It isn't madness. It was at one time common sense - you don't level up mid-adventure, you only gain levels in down time in between adventures/expeditions. It's that simple - gameplay and verisimilitude are simultaneously preserved. The madness was when people started ignoring this very sensible concept.

In 5e, you could perhaps argue that some levels represent bigger changes than others, and adjust the time period of downtime accordingly - but even 1 to 2 has some significant changes for some classes.
I stand corrected, that's sensible. It's been a while since I've seen a game run like that. It can annoy some players, but it's definitely a good way to help ground otherwise gamist mechanics.

[Easy_Lee]

Well, how about a real example. The more I do my job, and especially the more difficult tasks I work on, the better I get. Some days I have epiphanies and am much more skilled from that point on, because I develop better methods or have an insight.

So think of it that way. And hit points, while not the most sensible abstraction, can none the less be thought of as increased ability to avoid killing blows.

[SiCK_Boy]

It's very difficult to include levelling up as part of your roleplaying without using the training option (basically, needing to spend a certain amount of time and gold between levels in order to actually gain your level up). This if further compounded both by the 5th edition "progression logic" regarding Lvl 1-3 where the game and the rules really assume you'll go through these levels in a breeze, and by the construction of many official adventure modules where a lot of adventure is compressed in a very small period of time (like the example given by the OP), or where you have a clock making it non-sense to stop and train for weeks at a time before continuing the adventure.

Some classes do make it easier to rationalize levelling up than others, especially divine-related classes, as you can always invoke divine power suddenly boosting you. But for a wizard to learn 2 new spells, when normally this process is a pretty complex one requiring either to outright copy from an existing source or spend lots of gold and time doing research, and claiming he was working on those as a sideline during his adventuring (the "on-the-go" training mentioned by multiple people in earlier posts) doesn't work for me. At that point, you may as well just abstract the whole thing and accept it as one of the quirks of playing a game.

For a DM (and a group) wanting to integrate this progression as part of the roleplay, the best option would be homebrewed campaigns and adventures with pre-planned downtime between likely level up points in the story.

For those who still see use the level 1 trope of the "green" (rookie-type) adventurer with little experience, I must say the addition of backgrounds in 5th edition makes it much harder to justify. With all those various backgrounds giving you actual skills, it implies that your character actually practiced that craft for a certain amount of time. This makes it easier to start with older characters (maybe it's also just myself getting older and wanting to play characters closer to my own age?), so I would not assume that ALL lvl 1 characters are total newbies (I know, I know, they "literally" have 0 XP, but still...). That soldier turned fighter character probably fought a few wars, or at least a couple of skirmishes (or at least got a lot of fighting training) during his stint in the military; that sage turned wizard probably spent a lot of time perusing magic scrolls during his tenure as a sage, etc.

As an example, here's how I was able to justify my own levelling up in my current campaign: we are playing through the Hoard of the Dragon Queen module, and I play a dwarf paladin of Bahamut, using the backstory option of being a reincarnated gold dragon. My character's story was that he was reincarnated as a 50 years old dwarf (minimum "adult" age for a dwarf), then spent almost 100 years just surviving in the woods and getting used to his new situation (this accounted for my Outlander background), and then I spent the next 20 years as a paladin roaming the Sword Coast solo, helping people and trying to figure out what the heck I'm there for. When the module started, I had just met with the rest of the player characters, some of them had actual reasons to go to Greenest and I decided to follow them. I reached Lvl 2 mid-way through the first night (the attack on Greenest), and Lvl 3 during our initial foray towards the cultists' camp. In game time, that was 2 levels in the span of 72 hours (after my first and third long rests, respectively). We are now at the point in the campaign after freeing the prisoners from the cultist camp, and we were discussing as a group why should we return there to explore that cave (and, more generally, why should we keep caring about the cult and how to progress). Obviously, as a Paladin of Bahamut, as soon as the first cultist started shouting "Hail Tiamat", I was in, so I don't need a lot of motivation. The other players have a mix of backstory, but a few of them do have more of a mercenary/self-service personality (they want to know what's in it for them), so I tried giving them a speech explaining how it would be the end of the world if the cult's plan to summon Tiamat was serious and actually succeeded. I then mentioned that, for the last 20 years, I had been furthering my god's cause all over the Sword Coast, but that over the last few days, he had started answering my prayers in a very different way, granting me powers I did not know I could wield (essentially, I made the point that I was Bahamut's response to the threat posed by Tiamat - shows how close I am to finally learning humility :smallcool:). And that is how I justified my levelling up in character.

But as I said, it's always easier to justify with divine power involved. Otherwise, the training optional rules help, but there is no perfect method.

Overall interesting topic; really curious to hear specific examples of how other people integrate this in their games, and whether some DMs actually plan around this when building/designing their adventures.